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The Unified Government-owned center must relocate to make way for a Kansas City, Kansas, Community College expansion, but a new home has yet to be found.
It's a particularly vital resource as a cooling center in the summer and a warming center in the winter.
This week, Kansas City has been experiencing extreme heat.
The Willa Gill Center in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, continues to serve hundreds of people each day — offering food and a place to cool off during the summer heat — even as uncertainty about its future persists.
The UG-owned center must eventually relocate.
Its next-door neighbor, Kansas City Kansas Community College's downtown campus, wants the space.
But the UG cannot move forward until it finds the center a new home, something it has been working on for years.
William Goree got familiar with the Willa Gill Center after walking around the area.
The retired military veteran started volunteering there and also eats meals at the center.
He said the center does more than feed people — it connects them to critical services.
But right now, he said, the community is on edge.
"The state of things is that people are a little upset about this situation," Goree said.
Goree said the lack of communication from the UG has made things worse.
"It was never communicated how much time," Goree said. "Leaving it hanging in the air, maybe wasn't the best choice for them."
He said the UG has struggled to find a replacement site, including one attempt that fell through.
"They're having difficulty finding a place for it," Goree said. "They were going to put it in the West Bottoms; they couldn't do that."
Goree said moving the center away from its current location creates another problem — distance.
"A long-distance travel to get a meal is a difficult thing for people. So there's a lot of stress over this right now," Goree said. "Moving this place moves it away from where it's vitally needed down here because this area is where it's mainly needed, of course."
His frustration is not with the move itself, but with how it has been handled.
"I don't have a problem with them moving, I have a problem with what the UG did, selling it out from under them and basically not giving them any warning," Goree said.
The center sees significant daily traffic.
"This place is a vital necessity down here. Sometimes you have as many as 350, 400 people coming here," Goree said. "This is a vital necessity. I understand the problems that came with it, but the UG didn't handle it right."
As for what comes next, Goree said no one seems to have answers.
"If anybody does know, they're not talking," Goree said. "Now it's in the air."
Pamela Smart, executive director of Mt. Carmel Redevelopment Corporation, said the pressure of not knowing where the center will land has been difficult.
KSHB 41's Rachel Henderson spoke with her in December 2025.
"It's stressful on us to know that we have to move and not really know where our home is," Smart said.
Henderson also spoke with former mayor Tyrone Garner about the relocation in December, something he said took longer than he expected.
Henderson reached out to the new mayor about the status of a new location but has not heard back.
At an April 2026 community meeting hosted by KCK-based Churches United for Justice, the mayor and some commissioners promised to find a new home for the center by the end of this year.
For Tyra Pankey, who has been living unhoused and coming to the Willa Gill Center for the past year and a half, the center is far more than a meal.
"Since I came in this door, they've been showing me nothing but love, kindness and took care of me when I couldn't take care of myself," Pankey said. "Thanks to them, I'm alive."
Pankey, who is originally from Minnesota, said the center not being 24/7 is different than what she's used to.
"I'm used to, we have a shelter throughout the day. They don't have that down here," Pankey said.
Still, it's been an undeniably useful resource.
"They make good food, great food," Pankey said. "They give us clothes when we need it. They give a lot of stuff. They help us out a lot."
Pankey says she's not against the center relocating if it helps address the issue of people stealing items.
She says she travels with her items in a wheelchair.
Despite the downsides, Pankey spoke highly of the center's overall impact.
"I love it here," Pankey said. "It's a lot of love here."
KCKCC said it is still working with the UG on the center's future, even as it prepares to open its new facility.
"KCKCC continues to work with the Unified Government on the future location of the Willa Gill Center. Our priority now is to open the new KCK Education Health and Wellness Center and begin programs this fall," a KCKCC wrote in an email Wednesday.
Classes begin Aug. 17.
The Willa Gill Center is open from Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
St. Mary's Food Kitchen is housed inside the center and serves food seven days a week from 11:00 - 12:30. The center is located at 645 Nebraska Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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